A 30-second Peloton holiday advert released in 2019 quickly became a cautionary tale for businesses. In the advert, a man gives a woman an exercise bike as a gift. Almost immediately, critics on social media labelled it “sexist” and “dystopian”, arguing that it reinforced outdated ideas about gender roles and body image. The backlash spread rapidly, dominating online conversation and news coverage. Within days, Peloton’s share price fell by around 9 per cent, showing how strongly social media reactions can affect a company’s reputation and finances.

Researchers now describe situations like this as online social disapproval, or OSD. This term refers to public criticism of companies that takes place on digital platforms such as X, Instagram, or TikTok. What makes OSD particularly powerful is its speed and scale. Negative reactions can quickly snowball as posts are shared, commented on, and amplified by algorithms. Another well-known example occurred in 2023, when Bud Light faced boycotts and falling sales after criticism of its partnership with a transgender influencer. In both cases, online outrage moved far beyond a few unhappy customers and turned into a widespread public response.

To help organisations deal with this growing challenge, new research co-authored by Associate Professor Jinglu Jiang introduces a practical digital toolkit for managing social media backlash. The study argues that online criticism behaves very differently from traditional corporate crises, such as product recalls or legal disputes. Instead of unfolding in a straight line, OSD tends to move in waves, driven by how social media platforms promote content and encourage engagement. Understanding these patterns is key to responding effectively.

The toolkit breaks OSD into four main phases. The first is the preburst phase, when early warning signs begin to appear. This might include small clusters of critical comments or emerging negative trends. The second phase is the initial burst, when attention suddenly spikes and criticism becomes highly visible. The third phase, spreading and contagion, is often the most intense. At this stage, opposing opinions clash online, posts go viral, and one dominant narrative may take hold. The final phase is recalibration, when public attention fades, and the situation begins to stabilise.

For each phase, the research offers questions and indicators that managers can use to guide their decisions. Before a crisis erupts, companies should be monitoring online conversations to spot potential issues early. During the initial burst, they need ways to judge how popular and fast-moving the criticism is. When backlash is spreading widely, firms should track how quickly it is growing and whether it has crossed a level that demands a stronger response. In the final phase, the focus shifts to understanding impact, not just whether people have stopped posting.

Crucially, the researchers stress that recovery is about more than waiting for noise to die down. In the short term, businesses can look at sales figures, share prices, or customer traffic to see immediate effects. Over the longer term, they need to assess whether trust has truly returned. Trends in customer satisfaction, online reviews, surveys, and social media engagement can reveal whether damage to reputation still lingers. Every organisation, the study concludes, must define what “normal” online attention looks like for them, stay alert to old controversies resurfacing, and respond early and carefully before criticism turns into a full-scale social media storm.

More information: Jinglu Jiang et al, Bursts of online social disapproval: leveraging analytics for comprehension and detection, Journal of Business Strategy. DOI: 10.1108/JBS-12-2023-0258

Journal information: Journal of Business Strategy Provided by Binghamton University